Shelf Life

Tag: Vegan

  • Japan: The Vegetarian Cookbook

    Japan: The Vegetarian Cookbook

    Nancy Singleton Hachisu dives deep into the Japanese food scene, having married a Japanese farmer and learning the intricacies of cooking various vegetables and other ingredients that most of us aren’t familiar with.

    The author of several cookbooks including Japanese Farm Food, winner of the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2012: USA Winner for the Best Japanese Cuisine Book, Preserving the Japanese Way: Traditions of Salting, Fermenting, and Pickling for the Modern Kitchen, and Food Artisans of Japan, Hachisu is meticulous in her receipt development and helping us understand the intricacies of Japanese gastronomy. Her latest is Japan: The Vegetarian Cookbook (Phaidon 2023).

    For those who want to learn, Hachisu’s recipes require attention to detail and buying foods we may have trouble sourcing. But the results, for those who like a kitchen challenge, are well worth it and as someone who has been following Hachisu and using her cookbooks for years, I can assure you it gets much easier.

    It’s a fascinating take on Japanese cuisine from Hachisu, a native Californian who moved to Japan to stay there just for a year and immersed herself in Japanese food culture. Love intervened and after meeting an organic farmer, she married and moved to the rural Saitama Prefecture.

    That was more than 30 years ago, time enough for Hachisu to raise a family in an 85-year-old traditional Japanese farmhouse and become proficient in both culture and cooking.

    The book is so very niche that it’s almost like being in her kitchen and on her farm, giving us an amazing insight into a tiny slice of Japanese farm culture.

    CHILLED UME-TOFU SQUARES IN DASHI

    • Preparation time: 30 minutes, plus 2-3 hours pressing and chilling
    • Cooking times: 10-15 minutes
    • Serves: 4 squares
    • Vegan, Dairy-free, Nut-free

    Junsai, harvested from ponds from May to September, are baby water lily buds called “water shield” in English. They have a natural gelatinous covering so add a cool, slippery element to summer dishes. They might be available at Japanese markets, otherwise, just omit or substitute with blanched julienned green beans or cooked edamame. Salted sour “plums” have been prepared in Japan for a millennium, since the Heian period (794–1185), and are purported to have many health-improving qualities, including aiding digestion and combatting summer fatigue during the rainy season. The combination here makes a subtle, but lovely little bite.

    INGREDIENTS

    • 101⁄2 oz (300 g) cotton tofu or Japanese-style soft block tofu • 1 tablespoon hon kuzu
    • 2 medium umeboshi
    • Canola (rapeseed) oil, for greasing the pan
    • Generous 3/4 cup (63/4 fl oz/200 ml) Konbu Dashi
    • 1⁄2 tablespoon shoyu
    • A pinch of flaky sea salt
    • Scant 1⁄2 cup (31⁄2 fl oz/100 ml) baby water lily buds
    • Boiling water

    DIRECTIONS

    Place the tofu on a dinner plate and weight with a small cutting board for 1 hour.

    Smash the kuzu to a fine powder in a Japanese grinding bowl (suribachi, see page 354). Squeeze the tofu by handfuls to express excess moisture  and drop into the suribachi. Mash into the kuzu until well incorporated.

    Cut out the umeboshi pits (stones) and discard. Finely chop the umeboshi and fold into the smashed tofu.

    Dampen a folded-up piece of paper towel with the oil and grease the bottom and sides of
    a 5 1⁄2 × 4 1⁄2 × 2-inch (14 × 11 × 4.5 cm) nagashikan mold (see page 353) or a 4 3⁄8 × 8 1⁄2-inch (11.5 × 21 cm) loaf pan (bottom lined with parchment paper). Scrape the ume-tofu mixture into the pan and rap smartly on the counter to eliminate air pockets and make sure the tofu is evenly distributed into the pan.

    Set a bamboo steamer over a large wok filled one-third of the way with water and bring to a boil. Place the pan in the steamer, cover, and steam over high heat for about 10 minutes until set. Remove from the steamer, blot off accumulated moisture, and lay a piece of plastic wrap (cling film) on the surface. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours to chill.

    In a small saucepan, stir the dashi, shoyu, and salt together over medium heat to dissolve the salt. Transfer to a small bowl and refrigerate for 1 hour to chill.

    Place the junsai in a wire-mesh sieve and pour boiling water over for 10 seconds. Refresh
    by running the sieve under cold water. Shake off excess water and set the sieve over a bowl to drain. Store in the fridge for 1 hour to chill.

    Unmold the umedofu, cut into 4 squares, and place each on a small shallow individual dish. Stir the junsai into the cold dashi and spoon around the umedofu. Serve immediately as a light, palate-cleansing bite.

    Extracted from JAPAN: The Vegetarian Cookbook © 2023 by Nancy Singleton Hachisu. Photography © 2023 by Aya Brackett. Reproduced by permission of Phaidon. All rights reserved.

  • Persian Feasts: Recipes & Stories from a Family Table

    Persian Feasts: Recipes & Stories from a Family Table

    The cuisine of Iran, with origins dating back centuries, is arguably one of the most sophisticated in the world, offering an incredible array of dishes. This cuisine hails from the lands of ancient Persia and has evolved through the ages to what comprises the myriad and distinct regional cuisines in present-day Iran. Also shaping this cuisine is the variety of climates in Iran, the country’s terrain, and geography, with rich soil and plentiful sunshine, as well as the ethnocultural diversity of the country. From Persian Feasts (Phaidon 2024 by Leila Heller).

    A beauty of a cookbook with its lush food photos set on backgrounds of Middle Eastern designs, Persian Feasts celebrates centuries of culinary and cultural history of a land that during the first Persian Empire stretched from the Balkans in Eastern Europe in the west to the Indus valley in the east. Now known as Iran, the cuisine is complex with each region having a distinct imprint upon the ingredients and how it is prepared.

    Drilling down even further, according to author Leila Heller, each Iranian household holds itself to a high standard and has strong beliefs when it comes to Persian food. That said, anyone first attempting to cook these dishes at home should be assured by Heller’s statement that there is no wrong way or right way of making Persian food,

    “The personal preferences do impact Persian recipes,” she writes. “For instance, some prefer sweetness over tartness, buttery over dry, and many will adjust seasoning spices and herbs accordingly.”

    Making it even more accessible, most of the recipes in her book can be recreated at home from ingredients readily available in both neighborhood supermarkets and gourmet food stores. The more unique items—sumac, dried barberries dried, Persian limes, and prunes—are available at Middle Eastern or Indian food stores as well as online.

    Heller, president of the Leila Heller Gallery, a contemporary art gallery in New York and Dubai. She holds a bachelor of art degree from Brown University, a master’s degree in art from Sotheby’s Institute in London, and a second master’s degree in art history and museum management from George Washington University. She lives in both New York and Dubai, bridging the gap between East and West through art, culture, and food. This book is another way for her to share her knowledge in these areas. Besides recipes, we learn about celebrations, festivities, and events and the foods involved in each.

    For those just beginning to experiment with Persian cuisine, several recipes stand out as a straightforward way to get acquainted with techniques and ingredients. For example, all the ingredients needed to make Chicken Saffron Frittata are familiar and the dish can be completed in seven steps. In her description of the dish, Heller helps acquaint us with the background of the frittata locally known as chegehertmeh and hails from the lush province of Gilan in northern Iran that borders on the Caspian Sea.

    Smoked Eggplant with Tomato is another dish originating from the Caspian Sea region. Again, the ingredients are readily available, and many are already probably in a home chef’s pantry. The dish has seven short steps but is slightly different in that the eggplant is smoked over an open flame to give it the distinct flavor that makes this dish a winner. A refreshing summer dessert that’s both easy to make and gluten-free, Cardamom & Rose Water Pudding takes only four steps to create a pretty presentation. Yogurt Drink with Mint is even easier—five ingredients mixed in a blender.

    Once a home chef has mastered these simple recipes, more complex dishes like Herb & Noodle Potage, Shirazi Rice with Cabbage and Meatballs, and Persian Noodle Rice will seem less daunting, making Persian cooking an easy undertaking.

    Lentil & Quinoa Salad with Herbs

    By Leila Heller, “Persian Feasts: Recipes & Stories from a Family Table”

    2 tablespoons butter
    2 cups (8 oz/225 g) dried barberries, rinsed
    1 tablespoon sugar
    2 cups (1 lb/450 g) dried Puy lentils
    1 cup (8 fl oz/250 ml) and 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
    1 cup (6 1/2 oz/185 g) quinoa
    1 cup (3 1/2 oz/300 g) finely chopped scallions (spring onions)
    1/2 cup (1 oz/30 g) finely chopped cilantro (coriander), plus extra for garnish
    1/2 cup (2 oz/55 g) finely chopped chives
    1/2 cup (1 oz/30 g) finely chopped parsley
    4 tablespoons finely chopped dill
    3/4 cup (6 fl oz/175 ml) red wine vinegar or pomegranate molasses
    2 tablespoons cumin seeds
    1 tablespoon salt
    2 teaspoons black pepper
    1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
    1 1/2 cups (9 3/4 oz/275 g) pomegranate seeds, for garnish (optional)

    Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low, then add the barberries and sugar. Mix for 2-3 minutes, until the sugar has melted.Pick over the Puy lentils to remove any debris.

    Rinse the lentils under cold running water. In a medium saucepan, combine the lentils, 4 cups (32 fl oz/950 ml) of water, and 2 tablespoons of oil. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 20-35 minutes, until the lentils are cooked through. Drain, then set aside.

    Rinse the quinoa under cold running water, then drain. In a medium saucepan, combine the quinoa and 1 1/2 cups (12 fl oz/350 ml) of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until tender. Set aside to cool.

    In a large bowl, combine the quinoa, lentils, scallions (spring onions), herbs, and barberries.

    In a medium bowl, whisk 1 cup (8 fl oz/250 ml) of oil, vinegar, cumin, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. Pour over the salad and toss well. Season to taste, then garnish with pomegranate seeds, if using.

    This article originally appeared in the New York Journal of Books.

  • Plant Powered Mexican: Fasy, Fresh Recipes from a Mexican-American Kitchen

    Unless you’re deeply committed to a life of vegetables, words like plant-based can be a turnoff when it comes to menus and cookbooks. Sure, many of us, myself included, want to expand our vegetable repertoire but still need to indulge their inner carnivore—particularly when we think of a bleak future with nothing but quinoa and steamed broccoli. But Kate Ramos, who created the blog ¡Hola! Jalapeño! with the goal of merging authentic ingredients and flavors with modern preparations, has our back. Taking that philosophy, Ramos has written her Plant Powered Mexican: Fast, Fresh Recipes from a Mexican-American Kitchen , published by Harvard Common Press, it’s a lushly photographer book with recipes that are so wonderful it’s easy to forget there’s nary an animal protein anywhere in her book.

    Instead, Ramos offers us such dishes as Chileatole (a thick soup) with Masa Dumplings and Lime Crema, Potato and Collard Greens, Crispy Tacos with Ancho Chile Crema, and my personal favorite–One-Pan Cheesy Rice Chile Relleno Casserole.

    In her first chapter, Ramos tells us what’s in her pantry, providing us with an entrée into the world of chiles, peppers, oils, spices, herbs, and Mexican cheeses as well as the equipment she relies upon. The latter are simple enough. Just a comal (but she notes you can use a cast iron skillet instead) and a molcajete and tejolote, a volcanic stone mortar and pestle for grinding spices and making chunky salsas. As for the ingredients she commonly uses, I’d be willing to bet that many of us have such items as black pepper, smoked paprika, garlic powder, kosher salt, and coriander in our spice drawer already. That just leaves a variety of dried chile powders—ancho, guajillo, arbol, and habanero as well as a few other ingredients that can be bought as needed. Unlike many entrees into a new cuisine, Ramos keeps it simple and inexpensive.

    Six of the remaining chapters are divided into cooking methods—slow cookers, stovetop, grills, and oven. Instant Pot aficionados will be very happy to hear that there’s an entire chapter devoted to recipes using the beyond popular small kitchen appliance. Ramos cooks out of a small kitchen and says she’s never been enamored of kitchen equipment until, that is, she fell in love with her Instant Pot. Besides, its ability to cook beans—a common ingredient in Mexican cookery–quickly, Ramos offers a selection of recipes she’s developed for quick dinners for busy home cooks like Black Bean Enchilada Casserole, Smoky Tomato Tortilla Soup, and her Loaded Sweet Potatoes with Lime Crema, Sofrito Beans, Roasted Kale, and Chives.

    The recipes I made all worked without me having to make tweaks to salvage them. That’s a plus because I have encountered recipes that haven’t been tested or at least not well evaluated before being included in a cookbook. If I have one complaint about Plant Powered Mexican it’s that the font is small so instead of just glancing at the recipe while cooking, I often had to pick up the book to be able to read the directions. It’s a small complaint and shouldn’t stop anyone who is interested in plant-based cooking from purchasing this well-written cookbook.

    Vegan Picadillo Tostadas with Rice and Peas

    For the tostadas

    12 6-inch corn tortillas

    For the picadillo

    • 2 tablespoons avocado or sunflower oil
    • 1 medium white onion chopped
    • 2 medium carrots chopped
    • 3 cloves garlic chopped
    • 3 small Yukon gold potatoes peeled and diced
    • 1 pound plant-based beef
    • 1 recipe Magic Spice Mix see below
    • 1 ¼ cups Gluten-free beer or vegetable broth
    • ½ cup frozen peas no need to thaw
    • ¼ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

    For serving

    • 3 cups steamed rice
    • Lime wedges
    • 1 large avocado diced
    • 1-2 medium jalapeños thinly sliced
    • Green salsa

    To make the tostadas: Heat the oven to 350°F. Once the oven is ready, lay the tortillas directly on the oven racks with plenty of room around them for air to circulate. (I put six on the top rack and six on the bottom in my oven.)

    Bake for about 15 minutes, turning the tortillas halfway through, until they are very crisp and crack if you break them. Look for a light brown color, no darker than the shade of a roasted peanut. Remove the tortillas to a serving platter.

    To make the picadillo: Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrots, garlic, and potatoes. Cook until the garlic and onions start to brown, about 5 minutes.

    Add the plant-based beef and spice mix, breaking up the meat with the back of a wooden spoon. Continue cooking until the beef is browned, about 3 minutes. Add the beer or broth, reduce the heat to medium-low, and cover. Simmer the picadillo for about 10 minutes or until the veggies are tender. Stir in the peas and parsley, and cook for about 1 minute.

    To Serve: Spread ¼ cup of rice on a tostada, and top with ¼ cup picadillo. Pass the garnishes at the table.

    Magic Spice Mix:

    Mix 1 tablespoon guajillo chile powder, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon ground black pepper, ½ teaspoon smoked paprika, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon ground coriander, ½ teaspoon dried epazote or oregano (preferably Mexican) together in a small bowl until evenly combined. Use immediately or keep in a container for up to 1 month.

    Chilled Avocado Soup

    FOR THE SOUP:

    • 1 large ripe avocado, peeled and pitted
    • 2 cups cold water
    • 2 small Persian cucumbers
    • 2 scallions, trimmed and chopped
    • 1/4 cup fresh lime juice (from 2 limes)
    • 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
    • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
    • 1 teaspoon kosher salt

    FOR THE FAIRY DUST

    • 1/4 cup roasted, salted sunflower seeds
    • 1/4 cup white sesame seeds
    • 1/4 cup popped amaranth
    • 1/4 cup edible flower petals, such as nasturtium, pansies, marigolds, or cornflowers
    • 1 teaspoon toasted cumin seeds

    To make the soup:

    Blend soup ingredients. Add avocado, water, cucumbers, scallions, chile, lime juice, cilantro, oil, and salt to a blender. Blend until smooth.

    Chill. Cover and chill in the refrigerator until completely cold, at least 2 hours.

    To make the fairy dust:

    Combine. Add the sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, amaranth, flowers, and cumin seeds to a small bowl. Mix gently.

    Serve. Ladle the cold soup into bowls and sprinkle fairy dust over the top.

    This review originally appeared in The New York Journal of Books.

  • Blissful Basil: Over 100 Plant-Powered Recipes to Unearth Vibrancy, Health & Happiness

    Finding a sense of peace and contentment in her life by eating healthier and follow a menu of plant basedblissfulbasil_frontcover of Vegan meals, Ashley Melillo began blogging while earning her graduate degree in school psychology.

    Eating whole food helped Melillo deal with the anxiety and stress of her life. And she shares her food philosophy and the recipes she’s created not only on her blog, Blissful Basil, but also in her new cookbook, Blissful Basil: Over 100 Plant-Powered Recipes to Unearth Vibrancy, Health & Happiness (BenBella 2016; $21.95).

    It’s not easy, says Melillo who also earned a certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition from the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies
    .

    “There are no quick fixes,” she says about incorporating both physical exercise and a wide variety of plant-based foods into our diet.

    Indeed, one wholesome smoothie such as her Energizing Carrot Cake Smoothie, Get Glowing Strawberry Mango Chia Pudding or her Cheesy Herb or the Sun-Dried Tomato Good Morning Biscuits, won’t turn our lives upside down health-wise. But it’s all a step in the right direction to achieving physical, mental and emotional well-being.

    “I think it’s tempting for many of us to want to think otherwise but it’s necessary to build up good habits,” she says. “It’s a matter of making small but good choices every day. It’s a way to taking care of all aspects of your health—cognitive and physical.”

    Of course, as a psychologist, Melillo recognizes that it’s most difficult to make these changes at those times in our lives when we most need to do so.

    “It’s when some of these emotions are most at their peak and when you feel almost too overwhelmed to try taking the steps to move forward, that’s when it’s the hardest,” she says. “But it’s the hardest things that push up forward and end up being the best things for us. But it’s important to make ourselves do so–to start chipping away at our anxiety or stress or depression. By taking that one step, oftenswift-sweet-potato-coconut-curry-srgb we can go on and take another and another and ultimately alleviate some of those overwhelming feelings.”

    For Melillo, sticking with a whole foods plant-based diet doesn’t mean not allowing herself a little flexibility. But there are also other fixes too. Want something sweet? Try a vegan dessert such as her Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars, Enlivening Lemon Bars, Peanut Butter Cookies and Cosmically Fudgy Cacao Tahini Brownies. Hankering for a pizza? Melillo has a variety
    of pizzas such as her White Pizza with Garlic Herb Oil, Mozzarella and Puffy Potato Crust.

    “I think it’s important to have an element of self-compassion and understanding,” she says. “If you know you’re craving something that’s maybe not the thing that makes you feel greatest, but it just is what you’re feeling that you want to eat in that moment so like a vegan cookie or more processed vegan pizza something like that.”

    Realizing that many people aren’t ready to go totally plant-based or Vegan or know much about, Melillo offers a glossary of terms, recipes for pantry items to keep on hand and helpful symbols—colored circle noting whether recipes are free of gluten, grain, soy, nut, oil, refined sugar and if they’re raw.

    Melillo asked meat lovers to taste test the recipes in her book because she wanted them to be appealing not only for those already committed to a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle but to all those who pick up her cookbook or read her blog.

    “I really want everyone to love the recipes in this book,” she says.

    Ifyougo:

    What: Ashley Melillo talk and book signing

    When: Thursday, February 16, 7:00 p.m.

    Where: The Book Cellar, 4736-38 N Lincoln Ave Chicago, IL

    Cost: Free

    FYI: (773) 293-2665; bookcellarinc.com